I have been living in the United Arab Emirates for more than 15 years and having been able to work in multicultural environment, I have asked myself this question on many occasions – “why are we not wearing our traditional Filipino clothing more often?”
I have come up with a few reasons:
We only wear our national clothing during special occasions. These occasions include school events like “Buwan ng Wika”, graduation ceremonies, local festivities, government events and lastly (and sadly) as funeral attire. I was born in the early 80’s and growing up, these are the usual occasions when I have seen our national clothing being worn.
It is not comfortable to wear our national clothing. This is true to my personal experience, remembering the first time I wore a baro’t saya during my primary school event – “mainit at makati” (uncomfortably warm, sweaty, and itchy). With the tropical weather in the Philippines, the clothing was not usually a comfortable experience when you are not in an airconditioned room.
It is not easily accessible to many Filipinos (in the UAE and other parts of the world). Living and working away from our home country, buying Baro’t Saya or Barong Tagalog has never been easy. It’s not readily available, usually customized and takes weeks to be made, and shipping could cost a fortune.
It is expensive. While most national clothing from different countries is expensive, our traditional Filipino attire can be costly depending on the fabric and materials used as well as method of production. Most of our Barong Tagalog and Baro’t Saya are recognizable for their embroidery details – this can get costly too depending on the embroidery method used.
Are the reasons mentioned true to you? If the answer is yes, then why should we wear it more often?
This is why TERNO by TCG was born. We are here to give you more reasons to proudly wear our national clothing.
Being in a culturally diverse country, representing ourselves with pride and honor is always one of our top reasons. We are the third largest nationality by population in the UAE and we are one of the major key players in the economic growth of the country.
Because of the cultural diversity in the UAE and the government giving so much value to diversity, we are given the chance to showcase our culture on many occasions at work and social events. Let’s introduce the Filipino clothing to our foreign friends because this is an important way to identify who we are and where we are from.
Our national clothing is now accessible to many Filipinos in the UAE. TERNO by TCG is an online shop for traditional Filipino clothing that are readily available, anytime. We deliver all over UAE withing 2-3 working days.
Our ready-to-wear collections are comfortable, stylish, fashionable, and tailored in both traditional and modern fit.
Our products are made in the Philippines by Filipino artisans.
Our collections range from various fabric materials offering more choices that fit your budget without compromising quality.
Our products are hand-finished in small batch production supporting local artistry and fair trade.
Our product ranges from Terno tops and Terno boleros, traditional panuelo or alampay, Barong Tagalog for men, women, and kids, and kimona tops for ladies, teens and young girls. We have sizes from 6 months old onwards (Supling Collection) and XS to 3XL sizes for men and women.
Our products are educational. Our current collections are named after our national heroes, national anthem, and Filipino tribes. This is one of our ways to help inform and educate our customers not only about the products they are buying but also refresh our memories about the Philippines’ history.
You are helping our artisans earn a decent income when buying the products they make. For every TERNO by TCG product purchased, we contribute to the artisans’ fund which we use to support their livelihood and community program.
You are helping a business like ours in reaching our goals guided by our 4 core values – care for quality and professionalism, care for customers, care for the environment and care for society and culture.
You are helping our country by continuously supporting the production of traditional clothing – thus preserving our heritage and culture.
I have always been a proud Filipino, it is in the core of my identity and being a mother of two children and a wife to a non-Filipino, it has become a more pressing matter to me to educate my family about both cultures. Having been able to establish a business like ours with the help of my business partner Kristine, we continuously look for ways to be a company that not only cares to sell, but also a company that helps educate our customers and most especially the future generation – our children.
TERNO by TCG has recently produced a short documentary film in collaboration with The Carrot Brand about our Filipino artisans in the Philippines. We have successfully held a special private screening on the 27th of May at the Screening Room of the Paramount Hotel in Dubai and also made it to Cinemalaya 2023 where the documentary was screened at the Cinema Felipe at the PICC, Manila on 11th August. Another special screening event at the Dubai Marina Mall’s Reel Cinemas is happening in September 2023.
Our national clothing is such an important piece of our history, culture, and identity. Let us wear it with grace, passion, and purpose. When we wear our Filipino clothing, there is a special sense of feeling that is unexplainable – there is joy, pride, love, heritage, identity, and I believe… most importantly - a feeling of HOME.
You can view TERNO by TCG collection and order online through our website https://www.theculturedgifts.com/ . We are currently an online shop, but it doesn’t mean you can’t try before you buy! If you have any doubts about our sizes, the easiest and fastest way to contact us is via WhatsApp on +97155-4469057 05 +97158-5568488. We also now offer shipping worldwide! Get in touch with us to know more.
Disclaimer:
This blog is written by Babylyn Buchan, CEO and co-founder of The Cultured Group LLC. The above write-up is for TCG website purposes only and the opinions expressed on the blog are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other individuals or organisations.